Picture Frame

As photography became more accessible in the late 1800's, picture frame whimsies became desirable items of home décor. Often beaded with three-dimensional flowers and other motifs, picture frames illustrate the broad pallet artists employed to make these pieces. They fashioned patterns for designs and passed their templates along to younger artists in the family. Younger women and girls first learned how to bead the looped fringe and would later bead entire whimsies. By creating them in this way, Iroquois women insured the survival and growth of their artistic traditions.